Mazda Heads To Bathurst (Australia)

A trio of Mazda3 MPS production cars are primed and at the ready to take on some of the big names in racing including Holden and Ford at this weekend's Bathurst 12 Hour on Mount Panorama.

Flying the Mazda flag on the mountain will be the Mazda3 MPS of seasoned circuit goers Grand Prix Mazda, and for the first time ever, a further two turbocharged Mazda hatches racing under the banner of Osborne Motorsport.

Team owner Colin Osborne has chosen the annual 12 Hour endurance event to debut his new twin ex-Mazda works race cars in a bid for a podium finish in the hotly-contested Performance class.

Racing in a field packed with performance racers including a Holden Commodore VE SS, a Ford Falcon BF XR8 and three BMW 130is, Osborne is not taking any chances, pulling in experienced Mazda3 MPS driver Rick Bates to co-pilot one of his cars.

Despite having three production car titles to his name Osborne is cautious heading into his team's first race with the Mazdas.

"We must be conservative as our new cars are as yet untested in race conditions," he says. "Having said that, the whole team has the confidence in the engineering and the presentation of the cars which we think will set a benchmark in the series.

"We don't race for second, but we are being realistic about our chances this weekend in our first outing in the Mazda3 MPS."

Meanwhile the Grand Prix crew of Jake Camilleri and Scott Nicholas are more than ready for their annual pilgrimage to the mountain, with the crew confident of a strong result off the back of a successful 2009 Australian Manufacturers Championship.

With a preparation that can only be described as 'perfect', Camilleri can't wait for opening practice to commence on Friday.

"Everything is awesome, the boys have done a brilliant job with the car, all of the preparation has gone to plan and the car is going very well," said Camilleri after recently testing at Lakeside Park in Brisbane.

"This is the most prepared we have ever been, we really develop everything on the car with Bathurst in mind, and I think we have come a long way in the past 12 months.

"The handling of the car is very neutral, it's very easy to drive, and it will really look after itself over the 12 hours."